page_title: Median wasp
section_title: Colony cycle
hierarchical_section_title: Median wasp / Colony cycle
caption_attribution_description: English: Dolichovespula media, queen, length 19 mm Nederlands: Middelste wesp, koningin, lengte 19 mm
context_page_description: The median wasp is a species of social wasp of the family Vespidae found throughout Europe and Asia. It builds aerial paper nests often in shrubs or trees, and occasionally under the eaves of buildings. It is most common to see this wasp between May and October during its 3.3 month colony cycle. Behaviours of this wasp include nest defense, curling which is believed to function in brood incubation, and gastral vibration which is involved in larval feeding. The median wasp has a halplodiploid sex determination system that results in a high level of relatedness within the colony. This species is not usually aggressive but will sting if they feel their nest is threatened. Most foraging in the nest is done by the workers once the first ones reach adulthood. These workers forage for insects, nectar, and wood for nest construction in temperatures as low as 7 °C. The median wasp is known to be occasionally affected by the fungus Cordyceps sphecocephala and the Cricket paralysis virus.
context_section_description: The colony cycle of D. media is about 3.3 months and occurs between early May and the end of August. The nests are initiated in early May when a single queen emerges from her overwintering hibernation site. All queens in the same region tend to emerge from hibernation and initiate nests at about the same time and do not disperse over weeks or months as in some other species. 
   The queen rears about 10 workers by herself and it takes about 30 days for these workers to mature to adults from eggs. The first workers emerge around early June and start small cell building, where males and workers will be reared, and begin foraging for the colony. The colony continues to grow and large cell construction begins in early July which is where the new queens and some males will be raised. A mature median wasp nest will have about 1000 total cells. Around 320 will be small cells, 680 large cells, with an average of 800 wasps reaching adulthood. The first queens will emerge in early August and disperse to find hibernation sites. The rest of the workers, the old queen, and the males will begin to die off with the colony terminating by the end of August. However, workers are sometimes seen as late as early November.
caption: Queen
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